Saturday, July 05, 2014

Clayton Kershaw was, as usual, unbelievable last night. He stymied the Rockies over 8 innings, giving up just 2 hits and 0 runs. His scoreless innings streak now stands at 36. Graphic above via @Dodgers on twitter. Do you think Puig's home run convinced Tulowitzki to put him in the home run derby?

“He still doesn’t use his changeup probably as much as he could,”
Mattingly said. “That pitch is still there and developing. I still think
there are times when the more he gets the ball to the opposite side of
the plate, it’s lights out. If he gets the ball to the outside of the
plate as much as he is able to get the ball in on righties and away to
lefties, it will [be good].”

“It just lengthens us,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said of Uribe’s
return. “There’s been games where you kind of get to the bottom (of the
lineup), you get to 7-8-pitcher and you really don’t feel like you’re
going to have much of a chance to score much of the time.

“But Papi kind of lengthens that and with Hanley (Ramirez back in the
lineup Thursday) too it pushes it one more notch down. … It just
lengthens us up and down, makes us more dangerous.”

Yesterday (Thursday), the Dodgers set the major league record with their 37th consecutive game with their starting pitcher allowing 2 BB or less, breaking the record held by the 2005 Twins. (Elias) The Dodgers are on pace for the 6th best SO/BB in a season, but their 0.21 SO/BB above the league average won’t even crack the top 500. (Complete Baseball Encyclopedia) Despite their record streak, the Dodgers pitching staff is 1 BB below the league average. (Complete Baseball Encyclopedia)

But even putting aside the unrealistic expectation many fans have for
perfection from their relievers, people do seem to be missing the boat
on Kenley Jansen 2014. This might be his worst season in terms of
results, but in terms of performance, it actually might be his
best. Whatever it is, don’t lose your appreciation for him.